Communications Resources

Guidelines and Policies

Duke believes web content needs to be accessible to people with a wide range of abilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological abilities.

Everyone is encouraged to keep web accessibility in mind to maximize every user's web experience.

Duke Health Enterprise authorization to use and/or disclose protected health information for Duke communications, media relations and educational purposes. (HIPAA Release form)

These guidelines cover the basics of how to visually communicate the Duke University School of Medicine brand accurately. Logos, colors, graphics and fonts are available for download.  

Branding & Identity

Policy on drafting and distributing notifications on the death of current or former faculty and or staff. 

Policy

Use these guidelines when contracting with a vendor for creative services such as writing, photography, videography, web development, graphic design, etc. They are provided in partnership with Duke’s Procurement Office, and are intended to protect your unit and the creative assets obtained through your vendor.

Guidelines

The Duke Health social media policy provides guidance to Duke Health Workforce Members (Health System, School of Medicine, School of Nursing, and PDC faculty, providers, staff, trainees, and students) regarding the appropriate use of Duke Health-sponsored websites and social media channels (professional and personal use) and other online activity when users represent themselves as a Duke Health Workforce Member or through other means as may be associated with Duke Health.

Duke University School of Medicine follows the AP Stylebook, with some exceptions.

Visit Style Guide

This guide outlines considerations for ethical imagery based on process, diversity, setting and context. it was developed by the Content subcommittee of the Diversity Action Alliance

This information is intended for Duke employees seeking to create a YouTube channel for their unit to be connected to the main Duke channel.

Get Policy

Resources

Downloadable templates for posters, brochures, electronic letterhead, etc. Also the link to Universal Printing for SoM branded business cards and letterhead.

Get Templates

A list of communications resources and contacts across Duke University. 

The Duke University School of Medicine Communicators Network consists of communications specialists from departments, centers, institutes, programs and essential units within the School of Medicine and specific individuals from Duke University. The primary purpose of the Network is to enhance communication between the School, the Units and the University.

The SoM communicators Network meets every other month.  Parties interested in joining the network or presenting to the network should contact Jill Boy, Associate Dean for Communications for the School of Medicine.

Duke ProComm

The goal of Duke ProComm to provide opportunities for the communications community at Duke so they can grow and develop in their current roles and gain the necessary experience for advancement opportunities when available.

The Duke.is URL shortener now allows users to customize the slub (last part of the URL) to make it more meaningful/memorable. It's available to Duke personnel with a NetID. 

Go to Duke.is

School of Medicine events are listed on the School of Medicine page on the Duke Events Calendar. Tag the School of Medicine as a cosponsor of your event in the Duke Calendar and it will automatically appear on the calendar list as well as on the SoM Web site Calendar.  The Duke Events link will be distributed every other week in the Highlights newsletter.

  • Digital Display Panels:
    To post your event on the Trent Semans Center and/or MSRB 3 digital display panel, please email a widescreen 16:9 PowerPoint slide or Adobe Acrobat File (preferred) of your slide to Beky Branagan. Feel free to use one of these downloadable templates. The file name should be "date of the event (use periods not slashes), underscore, name of the event."   Example:  01.01.19_my.event 
     
  • Duke Event Calendar: 
    The Events Calendar is Duke's dynamic and comprehensive listing of campus events including lectures, conferences, performing arts, exhibitions, cultural activities, etc. which are held on campus and/or sponsored by departments, units, and groups. Users can search by date, topic, type, or group, and can download event details to most personal calendar clients. If you select School Of Medicine as a co-sponsor of your event, your event will automatically flow to the School of Medicine Calendar.  Event Calendar
     
  • Duke Health - Posting on Medical Center digital displays
    Seventeen digital signs have been installed in public areas throughout DUH and in strategic locations in Duke South Clinics. Requests for content to be added to the digital signs must be completed via a digital sign request form that is available on the Duke Health intranet. Please carefully review the content criteria before submitting your request to ensure the information meets the requirements for posting. If you do not have access to DHE, please email your flyer to hospitalcommunications@duke.edu   Post to Duke Health Digital Signage
     
  • DukeFlyer - Posting on digital displays across Duke University campus
    Anyone with a NetID can submit flyers to digital signage displays across campus. Users can easily monitor when and where their flyers are displayed. Post to Duke Flyer

Recommended questions task at project planning meetings thelp ensure diversity in stories, videos, photography, etc.

  • What are the demographics of the population that is most affected by the disease or health challenge that is the subject of this story?
  • Are there any BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color) individuals whwe haven’t considered and can add tthis story? Are there any other perspectives we might be missing?
  • Are we accurately representing the demographics of the characters of the story? (Especially in stories in which we’re discussing large groups of students or patients, avoid tokenism or misrepresentation.)
  • Consider the target audience for the piece.
    • Whis the audience we’re trying treach, and what is the goal of the piece?
    • What (if any) action are we hoping the audience will take after reading?
    • What are the audience’s demographics (race, sex, gender, age, location)?
    • When distributing the content, how dwe ensure we reach populations most affected by a story topic or disease?
    • Keep in mind that just because the audience is of one particular demographic, that doesn’t mean we will only show people of that same demographic.
  • Are there people you can connect with treview the story before publication tmake sure we’re being sensitive tthose affected by the topic of the story?
Student Resources

A selection of icons in the SoM color pallet, created for use on websites and in other media.

View Icon Catalog

 

Resources for Inclusive Communications were created by the Professional Development subcommittee of the Duke Diversity Action Alliance.

  • School of Medicine Photo Repository, a selection of photos taken by in-house photographers and stored in Box. 
     
  • Webdam is a University-wide photo sharing system that provides NetId access to free photography, video and branding assets. Search and download images and video. The School of Medicine folder contains photos and assets related to its departments/units.
     
  • Photo/Video Organization Guide contains best practices for assessing and organizing photographs and digital files.
     
  • Duke Photo/Video Style Guides
  • Clinical Faculty headshots
    Mike Garrison, DUHS Marketing videographer/photographer
    • DukeHealth.org profile videos and headshot photos, for all Duke Health doctors and practitioners who see patients in the outpatient setting.
    • Free DukeHealth.org headshots for Duke Health doctors/APPs who’re inpatient, but have clinical profiles on DH.org. Anesthesiologists, hospitalists, and the like.
    • Research and non-clinical faculty will need to participate in University or SOM photo days for headshots.

  • Duke Approved Photographers

  • Photo Release form - Open areas on campus are considered public space and a photo releases is not required. However, for portraits and photos of specific people, please use the University Photo Release Form

  • Instructions for taking a good selfie for web profiles 
    • Look good, prepare your hair, clean your glasses, etc.
    • Stand about an arm's length away from a wall with your back square to the wall. 
    • Hold the phone in profile mode (vertically) in two hands, with your arms straight out. (or get someone else to do this)
    • Line up your eyes about 1/3 from the top of the viewfinder (if you have the grid turned on put your eyes along the top line).
    • Smile, and snap a photo.
    • Do not crop the photo as we’ll need to make it fit particular dimensions.

      A note about lighting: The best light is natural light; the worst is fluorescent. For a well-lit photo, take the photo outside, standing in shade cast by a solid object (wall or building).

    Closed Captioning Videos

    Duke University Video Resources

      LinkedIn Learning

      Videographers

      • Contact Andrea Martin for the latest information regarding vendor restrictions at Duke Health during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

      Warpwire for Video Recording and Editing

      • Duke provides secure (NetID-based) video and audio publishing through Warpwire. With Warpwire, anyone with a valid Duke NetID can easily upload and publish video, audio, and image files and share them with Duke and non-Duke users— anywhere, anytime, on just about any modern device. Warpwire also supports the creation of RSS feeds for files it hosts that can be published to places like Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, and TuneIn.

      YouTube

      Options for School of Medicine units that need a website